End group polarity and block symmetry effects on cloud point and hydrodynamic diameter of thermoresponsive block copolymers

Thermoresponsive block copolymers are of interest for delivery vehicles in the body. Often an interior domain is designed for the active agent and the exterior domain provides stability in the bloodstream, and may carry a targeting ligand. There is still much to learn about how block sequence and chain end identity affect micelle structure, size, and cloud points. Here, hydrophilic oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether acrylate and more hydrophobic di(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate monomers were polymerized to give amphiphilic block copolymers with amphiphilic chain ends. The block sequence and chain end identity were both controlled by appropriate choice of RAFT chain transfer agents to study the effect of ‘matched’ and ‘mismatched’ chain end polarity with amphiphilic block sequence. The affect of matching or mismatching chain end polarity and block sequence was studied on the hydrodynamic diameter, cloud point, and temperature range of the chain collapse on linear di‐ and triblock copolymers and star diblock polymers. The affects of matching or mismatching chain end polarity were significant with linear diblock copolymers but more complex with triblock and star copolymers. Explanations of these results may help guide others in designing thermoresponsive block copolymers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2838–2848     

Influence of Polarity and Activation Energy in Microwave–Assisted Organic Synthesis (MAOS)

The aim of this work was to determine the parameters that have decisive roles in microwave-assisted reactions and to develop a model, using computational chemistry, to predict a priori the type of reactions that can be improved under microwaves. For this purpose, a computational study was carried out on a variety of reactions, which have been reported to be improved under microwave irradiation. This comprises six types of reactions. The outcomes obtained in this study indicate that the most influential parameters are activation energy, enthalpy, and the polarity of all the species that participate. In addition to this, in most cases, slower reacting systems observe a much greater improvement under microwave irradiation. Furthermore, for these reactions, the presence of a polar component in the reaction (solvent, reagent, susceptor, etc.) is necessary for strong coupling with the electromagnetic radiation. We also quantified that an activation energy of 20–30 kcal mol⁻¹ and a polarity (μ) between 7–20 D of the species involved in the process is required to obtain significant improvements under microwave irradiation.     

One Terminal Guanosine Flip of Intramolecular Parallel G-Quadruplex: Catalytic Enhancement of G-Quadruplex/Hemin DNAzymes

Numerous studies have shown compelling evidence that incorporation of an inversion of polarity site (IPS) in G-rich sequences can affect the topological and structural characteristics of G-quadruplexes (G4s). Herein, the influence of IPS on the formation of a previously studied intramolecular parallel G4 of d(G₃TG₃TG₃TG₃) (TTT) and its stacked higher-order structures is explored. Insertion of 3′–3′ or 5′–5′ IPS did not change the parallel folding pattern of TTT. However, both the species and position of the IPS in TTT have a significant impact on the G4 stability and end-stacking through the alteration of G4–G4 interfaces properties. The data demonstrate that one base flip in each terminal G-tetrad can stabilize parallel G4s and facilitate intermolecular packing of monomeric G4s. Such modifications can also enhance the fluorescence and enzymatic performances by promoting interactions between parallel G4s with N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) and hemin, respectively.     

Tuning of Photonic band gap via combined effect of electric and optical fields in a blue phase liquid crystal composite

ABSTRACT

Blue phase liquid crystals are soft 3D photonic crystals in which the liquid crystal molecules self-assemble to form a cubic structure with lattice spacing of a few hundred nanometers resulting in selective reflection of colours in the visible spectrum. The corresponding wavelength or the ‘photonic band gap’ can be tuned using various external stimuli such as thermal, electric, magnetic and optical fields. Here, we report efficient tuning of photonic band gap by utilising the combination of electric and optical fields in a blue phase liquid crystalline system. The studies indicate that the chirality of the medium has a direct bearing on the direction of the wavelength shift and the extent of the photonic band gap tunability. More importantly, the synergistic effect of the two fields helps in reversible tuning of the band gap.     

Synthesis,spectral, DFT calculations and biological studies of solvatochromic copper(II)-ONS hydrazone derived from 2-aminochromone-3-carboxaldehyde

New ONS hydrazone ligand, 2-[(2-aminochromon-3-yl)methylidene]-N-phenylhydrazinecarbothioamide, HL , was synthesized and reacted with different salts of Cu (II) ion (OAc⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻ and Cl⁻) in absence and presence of secondary ligands (L′); 8-hydroxyquinoline, 1,10-phenanthroline or SCN⁻; to form binary and ternary Cu(II)-chelates. The ligand and its Cu(II)-complexes were fully characterized by analytical, spectral, thermal, conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The metal chelates showed octahedral, square planar and /or distorted tetraherdal arrangements. Coats–Redfern equations used to calculate the kinetic parameters of the thermal decomposition stages (E_a, A, ΔH, ΔS and ΔG). The compounds exhibit luminescence property; promising interesting potential applications as photoactive materials. Lippert–Mataga, Bakhshiev, Kawski–Chamma–Viallet and microscopic solvent polarity parameter and E_T^N correlation methods were applied on the solvatochromic shifts of emission spectra to evaluate the ground (μ_g) and excited (μ_e) states dipole moments. Excited state dipole moment is larger than the ground state which may be attributed to π-π* transition. The coordinating anions play an important role on the position and intensity of emission band. The ligand and its metal complexes showed antimicrobial activity towards Gram–positive bacteria, Gram–negative bacteria, yeast and fungus. The molecular structural parameters of HL and its Cu(II)- complexes have been calculated on the basis of DFT engaged in the Gaussian 09 program at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level; the theoretical data are correlated with the experimental data.     

Three 1‐phenylindolin‐2‐one derivatives displaying different molecular dipole moments and different crystallographic symmetries

Three 1‐phenylindolin‐2‐one derivatives, namely 1‐phenylindolin‐2‐one, C₁₄H₁₁NO, (I), 5‐bromo‐1‐phenylindolin‐2‐one, C₁₄H₁₀BrNO, (II), and 5‐iodo‐1‐phenylindolin‐2‐one, C₁₄H₁₀INO, (III), have been synthesized and their structures determined. Compounds (I) and (II) crystallized in the centrosymmetric space groups Pbca and P2₁/c, respectively, while compound (III) crystallized in the polar space group Aea2. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the molecular dipole moment gradually decreases in the order (I) > (II) > (III). The relatively smaller dipole moment of (III) and the larger non‐electrostatic intermolecular interactions may be the main reasons for the noncentrosymmetric and polar structure of (III).     

The pseudomonotone polar for multivalued operators

In this work, we study the pseudomonotonicity of multivalued operators from the point of view of polarity, in an analogous way as the well-known monotone polar due to Martínez-Legaz and Svaiter, and the quasimonotone polar recently introduced by Bueno and Cotrina. We show that this new polar, adapted for pseudomonotonicity, possesses analogous properties to the monotone and quasimonotone polar, among which are a characterization of pseudomonotonicity, maximality and pre-maximality. Furthermore, we characterize the notion of D-maximal pseudomonotonicity introduced by Hadjisavvas. We conclude this work studying the connections between pseudomonotonicity, variational inequality problems and upper sign-continuity.     

溶剂极性控制下的煤抽余物吸附甲烷能力研究

基于原煤和有机溶剂抽余物的等温吸附实验结果,对比分析溶剂极性与其煤抽余物吸附甲烷能力变化关系,探讨抽提溶剂极性差异对煤抽余物吸附甲烷能力控制的地球化学机理。结果表明,煤溶剂抽余物等温吸附甲烷曲线都遵循Langmuir方程,且二硫化碳(CS₂)和苯(C₆H₆)溶剂抽提作用增大了煤吸附甲烷量,四氢呋喃(THF)和丙酮溶剂抽提作用减小了煤吸附甲烷量。实验发现,煤抽余物吸附甲烷能力变化与抽提溶剂极性成负相关关系,该现象可用相似相容原理解释:CS₂和C₆H₆溶剂极性较弱,抽提出较多具有非极性结构(-CH₃和-CH₂-)的烷烃和芳烃,为甲烷在煤表面吸附增多了吸附位而增强了抽余物吸附甲烷能力,THF和丙酮溶剂极性较强,抽提出较多具有极性结构(-CHO、-OH、和-COOH)的非烃和沥青质,减少了吸附位而降低煤抽余物的甲烷吸附能力。     

A Novel Approach to All-Optical Generation of Ultra-Wideband Signals

Abstract

The generation of ultra-wideband signals in the optical domain is highly desirable for ultra-wideband-over-fiber systems, which has recently become a topic of interest. In this article, a novel and simple approach to achieve all-optical generation of ultra-wideband signals is proposed, which is based on delaying and superimposing optical Gaussian pulses with opposite polarities. The proposed system is capable of generating both ultra-wideband monocycle and doublet pulses, and the polarity of the generated ultra-wideband monocycle pulses can be fast-switched to implement pulse polarity modulation with the required bit pattern. A model to describe the proposed system is developed, and the generation of ultra-wideband signals is demonstrated with simulations and a proof-of-concept experiment.     

On the Effects of UV Radiation on the Release Ability of Glucose Embedded in Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Films

New drug delivery systems based on hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) and different percents of glucose were prepared and characterized to check their suitability as UV resistant patches. The spectral absorption properties of the HPC and HPC-glucose blends before and after UV irradiation were analyzed. The surface polarity and hydrophilicity were correlated with the morphology of the films and analyzed with respect to the UV exposure time and the embedded amount of glucose. The effects of UV radiation on in vitro evaluation of glucose release from the HPC films are reported. The mechanism involved in the drug release process, evaluated using the Korsmeyer-Peppas equation, was dependent on the introduced amount of glucose and less on the UV exposure time. A more polar, smoother, and less dense surface releases the glucose over larger periods of time, making the system with lower percents of glucose more adequate for the pursued purpose.